


Frayed

by qu33nb33



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon GO
Genre: Autistic Character, CPTSD, Coming Out, Everyone Is Gay, Misgendering, Multi, Neopronouns, Nonbinary Blanche, Nonbinary Character, Other, PTSD, Reincarnation, Service Pokémon, Stuttering, Trans Male Character, Trans Spark, genderfluid Blanche, ze/zer pronouns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 06:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13944504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qu33nb33/pseuds/qu33nb33
Summary: For decades the Pokemon world survived with three teams and an almost endless amount of trainers, working in harmony with each other and their Pokemon.However, as time has gone on, that harmony has been tested, and the bonds between the teams has begun to dwindle. Three new leaders, young and passionate, are chosen to be the ones to renew the strength these teams once had.Too bad its too late.





	Frayed

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo! So uh, yeah. All of the setting and plot is made up. I've made a new region that this takes place in, there's going to be a new Bad Guy Team, and the world has the properties (Teams, turning in pokemon, etc) of Pokemon Go.
> 
> In addition, Blanche is trans (nonbinary, genderfluid) and uses she and ze pronouns, Spark is trans (trans man) and uses he/him, and Candela is currently a cis woman but that may change (and she uses she/her). Pairings are undecided.
> 
> If you feel like any of that would bother you, feel free to move on!

Blanche wanted to slam zer head into the counter in front of zer. Ze had nothing against Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny, but this trainer was another story. The kid—he couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen—had insisted that Blanche was a witness to his Pokemon going missing.

And yeah, sure, Blanche had seen the Pokemon take off in the middle of their training, but did that really mean ze needed to be part of the investigation?

Officer Jenny, for her part, had tried to cut Blanche loose early on. However, the kid was still adamant that Blanche somehow had important input on what had happened with his Pokemon. "She's part of team Mystic! She has to be able to help!" If ze wasn’t so tired ze might have found it cute, maybe, or an honor that the kid thought so highly of zer. But the fact remained that ze was tired and had absolutely no information that could help find the missing Machop.

“So,” Officer Jenny smiled, and Blanche was impressed to see it only looked slightly forced, “Let’s go over it again. You were training in the clearing across the park, a wild Hypno started playing with your Machop, and suddenly Machop left. Is there any other important information?”

This had been the _fifth_ time they had gone over this.

“Hmm… No, I think that’s it!” The kid smiled, proud of himself, before he realized the situation again. “Can you find him?”

Nurse Joy spoke up from her spot across the table, “Officer Jenny will do her best. Your Pokemon may come back on its own, too. Sometimes they get caught up playing and forget to find their trainers for a little bit.” She smiled in the way that Nurse Joys did, and even Blanche had to admit it had a calming effect.

Ze had to give the officer and the nurse credit, too. They were incredibly patient considering the circumstances. Blanche, on the other hand, was just tired and a bit bitter.

“Alright!” Officer Jenny closed her notepad and stood. Nurse Joy and Blanche did the same, and all three looked at the child in front of them. Blanche felt a pang of sympathy for the kid, who had obviously never lost a Pokemon before. “Stay in town, okay? I’ll make sure any information I find gets to you or Nurse Joy immediately.”

“Thank you, Officer.” The kid smiled sheepishly and stood along with the rest of them.

Nurse Joy led the boy away, and Blanche heard them talking as they left. “Would you like to stay in the spare room for the night?”

Officer Jenny, meanwhile, turned to Blanche with a knowing look. “Children tend to overshare when they’re panicked. Sorry you got caught up in all of this.”

Blanche raised zer hand as if to wave the comment off. “No, it’s fine. Exhausting, of course, but he seemed more relaxed with all of us here, amazingly.”

Officer Jenny chuckled, “That’s true. I’m glad it didn’t ruin your night, at least. Some people aren’t as open minded about children. IT makes sense, though, if you're going to be the new Mystic leader.” There was atone in her voice that Blanche didn't miss. Ze wondered if the officer was Team Mystic, or if she was just happy for Blanche.

Blanche hummed in acknowledgement at the comment. Despite child trainers being very common, or maybe because of that, some people had a rather negative view of younger people. Blanche hadn’t seen much of it zerself, but ze wasn’t surprised Officer Jenny had.

“We all have to do our parts." Ze said stiffly, unsure what to say exactly and coming off awkward. "Well, good night Officer Jenny.” Blanche turned as ze bid the officer good night, “Good luck finding that Pokemon.”

“And good night to you, Miss Blanche! Thank you for your assistance.”

Blanche nodded and walked out the door. _Miss Blanche_. Now, at least, ze had time to go get some food before turning in for the night. Ze didn’t notice that zer walking was a bit faster than normal, but neither did anyone around zer. _Miss Blanche_. Ze had a lot to do in the morning, and hadn't been expecting to be out as late as ze was. _Miss Blanche_. Ze realized ze had ben thinking about Officer Jenny's comment, but tried to shrug it off. The thought didn’t bother zer so much as ze found it just plain weird.

Ze let zer Vaporeon out of it’s ball. The Pokemon smiled up at zer and gave a gentle “Voopon!” in greeting, which made Blanche smile. Vaporeon had a way of calming zer down when ze was anxious, and ze was grateful for that.

“C’mon, let’s go eat. I’m starving.”

It was already eight o’clock and ze hadn’t eaten since… Since…

Sometime that wasn’t right then.

Blanche zoned out as ze wandered in the direction of the nearest food place. Zer head began to hurt as ze once again began to think about too many things at once. From the fiasco with the kid’s missing Pokemon, to being hungry, to zer training to become the next Mystic team leader, everything was so chaotic and confusing for zer to comprehend at once.

Ze knew ze probably should give herself a break, but ze couldn’t stand to while there was so much work to be done. Tomorrow ze was supposed to meet the other Team Leaders In Training, which would have been stressful enough if zer gender hadn’t decided _the day before_ to become a tangled mess of feelings again.

Blanche pouted and tucked a strand of hair behind zer ear. Normal people didn’t worry about their pronouns and gender during team introductions, did they?

Ze knew it was a question ze shouldn’t answer, experiences were unique and varied, but ze would be lying if ze said ze didn’t have a slight…. Complex about it.

Maybe that was too harsh of a word, but ze wasn’t in the best of moods at the time, either.

“Von?”

Blanche smiled down at zer Vaporeon, who had found a food stand that sold roasted berries. Smiling knowingly, Blanche relented and bought several berries for zer spoiled Pokemon. The scent of the berries brought zer back into a better state of mind, if only slightly and temporarily, and ze told zerself it was worth spoiling zer Pokemon a bit for that alone.

A few yards down the street was a shop that sold sandwiches, which were excellent in Blanche’s book. With sandwiches and berries in hand, ze made zer way back to zer hotel with Vaproeon by zer side.

\--------x

The next day Blanche woke up in an even worse mood than the day before.

 _Wonderful_ , ze grouched to zerself, _A poor mood_. _An excellent way to greet the people you will be working with from now on._

Vaporeon, for it’s part, loafed lazily on the foot of the bed as it watched Blanche with some form of amusement. At first Blanche felt offended that zer own Pokemon would think this was funny, but… Then ze realized it was a Pokemon… And then realized ze was even more stressed and moody than ze originally thought.

Ze couldn’t help it, though, as ze scowled at zerself in the mirror. Zer hair was long, something that always seemed to confused people. Ze liked long hair, it wasn’t a crime! Plus ze just wasn’t a fan of how ze looked with short hair.

On top of that, zer body just felt wrong. Curvy in the wrong places, angled in the wrong places, just. Plain. Wrong.

“I look no different than I did yesterday.” Blanche said, and the cool look ze gave zerself was almost convincing even to zer. “My mind is playing tricks on me. I do not have to pass to be in a good mood.”

…It was worth a shot, at least.

So, with a coat that was concealing but not too formal and jeans that fit just right (ze considered putting zer hair up in a hat of some kind, but ze had never done that before and didn’t want to risk it today) Blanche gathered zer things and made zer way out the door with Vaporeon trailing behind.

The real event of the day wasn’t zer complaining or her bad mood. It was seeing Professor Willow again, and meeting zer new Team Leader companions.

As Blanche stepped onto the bus that would take her to the professor’s lab, ze began to go over all the information ze had on the other leaders. Thankfully ze had some information given to zer by Professor Willow, otherwise the anxiety would probably be too much to handle all at once.

First, there was Candela. With the information ze had been given, ze tentatively assumed Candela was okay with she/her pronouns, was born in Kanto (Celadon), her first Pokemon was a Charmander who was now a Charizard, and she had a Flareon. Professor Willow had also often commented on her passion (and loudness) when it came to training, and Blanche prepared zerself for that mentally.

Not a lot of information, but it was something.

Spark, on the other hand, was somehow more mysterious and yet had more information. Once again, ze assumed Spark used he/him pronouns, he was an expert at hatching eggs, and ze knew he had a Jolteon, but that was… About where zer information ended. Professor Willow had talked about how Spark was enthusiastic and reliable, but hadn’t given much information about his background or even his Pokemon.

Ze knew that really in the long run ze would probably enjoy meeting them and finding out about them zerself, journaling about them and finding out their habits and beliefs and quirks, but that thought didn’t do anything to quell zer anxiety on the bus ride there.

With so much to think about, zer thoughts finally drifted back to zer situation as a whole. Not only had ze moved from Sinnoh, but ze was going to be a Team Leader. It still hadn't quite registered to zer that all of that was really happening. Somehow, out of everyone in the world, ze had been chosen to lead Team Mystic.

As thrilling as it was, it was sad too. Ze had never met the previous leader, Jennidy, but ze had looked up to her like other Mystics. When the news that the leaders would be replaced hit the media it had been wild. Everyone was torn between the outrage of leaders being forced to step down and the excitement that the next leader would be one of them.

Blanche, for zer part, had remained neutral as far as competing went. If ze would be picked, ze wanted it to be because of zer normal talents and abilities and not cheap tricks to show of zer skills in someone's face.

And, surprisingly, it had actually happened. Now, though, zer entire live would be different. Not to mention the possibility of failure. What if ze couldn't help quell the tensions between the teams? The thought made zer blood ice cold.

Blanche glanced out the window and ran a hand over Vaporeon’s back as it sat in zer lap. Another hour and they would be at the lab. It seemed like an eternity and far too soon all at once, and the thought made zer claustrophobic.

“Eon?”

Vaporeon sat up slowly without disturbing its trainer and sat in Blanche’s lap. Then, like they had practiced, it rested its front legs on both of zer shoulders and rested its head on zer right shoulder.

Blanche hadn’t even noticed ze had been having an anxiety attack, and quickly but softly wrapped zer arms around the Pokemon gratefully. The movement and pressure was grounding, and ze found zerself calmed down greatly.

“Thank you.” Ze said with a smile when ze had calmed down. Zer Vaporeon made a satisfied sound before it curled up on the seat beside zer, ready to nap the remaining half an hour to the lab. Blanche ran zer hand along the Pokemon’s back, happy to have it by zer side.

For now, thoughts of first meetings would have to wait. They were doing nothing for Blanche’s state of mind and thus were unnecessary. Instead, ze decided to move on to what ze hoped to get out of being a Team Leader.

Being able to study Pokemon with the Professor was certainly a big plus. Well, ze wouldn’t be studying side-by-side of course, but being able to relay information back and forth was a big step from hoping someone would notice zer papers on evolution. The validation of research and feedback was an important part of zer life, and ze looked forward to helping professors, trainers, and Pokemon alike with zer studies.

Being part of a team was an interesting concept, as well, though not one ze had thought about as much. Ze would be made the leader of others of Team Mystic, something that was intimidating yet satisfying. Ze wanted to be a good leader and a good role model, and ze could only hope that the professor and zer fellow leaders would help zer do so.

And, of course, Blanche looked forward to all the Pokemon ze would get to work with in zer time as a leader. Hundreds, thousands, maybe even more Pokemon for zer to be able to meet and study. The idea made zer skin break out in goosebumps, and ze could almost hear an unidentified person calling zer a nerd. That didn’t matter, though, and ze smiled at the thought.

Meeting new people and having new experiences would be good for zer in the long run. The hardest part was keeping that in mind. “The long run” never seemed to end, and it never seemed to bear any fruit. But deep down, ze knew that wasn’t true, and it was all a matter of patience.

They were one stop away from where they had to be, and Blanche felt at least a bit more prepared than before. At least now ze had gotten to sort a few more of zer thoughts out, and ze was ready for the next challenge in front of zer.

Zer thoughts were grounded in the present when a bright flash of light filled zer vision before a large, vibrating boom shot through the bus. Around zer people screamed and called out in confusion, but ze couldn’t find it in zerself to make a noise. Instead ze rested a hand on Vaporeon’s head, and got ready to have to get up.

But then the bus suddenly jerked to the side, and everything went dark.


End file.
